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April 16, 1999/30 Nisan 5759, Vol. 51, No. 29
Renamed Jewish communal entity chooses interim leader
JULIA GOLDMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Leaders of the Jewish community's central fund-raising bodies have turned to a veteran Jewish professional to temporarily head the new national entity formed from the merger of the Council of Jewish Federations, the United Jewish Appeal and the United Israel Appeal.
Stephen Solender, the executive vice president of the UJA-Federation of New York, will serve as the acting president of the new organization, which this week was given an official name - United Jewish Communities. Delegates attending the new entity's "Founders Forum" in Washington this week favored that name over an alternative by a vote of 73-59 after a passionate debate. The decision must be ratified by a not-yet-elected board of trustees of the new entity, but officials say the organization, known until now as "Newco," will begin using the new name immediately.
Charles Bronfman, the entity's chairman of the board, announced April 12 at a meeting of federation leaders in Washington that Solender was "on loan" to the new body, effective immediately. Solender will continue in his role as executive vice president of the UJA-Federation of New York while working as the chief professional officer of the United Jewish Communities for up to six months.
Solender is assuming day-to-day management of the organization, including organizing staff and overseeing the operating budget, which totals some $37 million.
Meanwhile, the search for a permanent president continues. Solender said that while he is not interested in filling the position on a long-term basis, he agreed to step into the role because "I felt we were at the most sensitive stage" in the creation of the new entity.
"If a chief did not come forward quickly, I felt our potential would be seriously jeopardized," Solender said in an interview shortly after the announcement was met with rousing applause in the ballroom of the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.
This week's three-day Washington meeting marked the end of nearly six years of planning for the merger. Under the new system, local federation leaders will play a larger role in the governance of the Jewish community's most broad-based fund-raising and service organization.
But significant features of the new entity have yet to be resolved, including the appointment of all permanent governing bodies and the appointment of a long-term president.
Indeed, the search committee, chaired by Richard Pearlstone of Aspen, Colo., and Daniel Shapiro of New York, has been at work for six months in the delicate process of identifying federation professionals and other leaders qualified for the top professional post. But until now, no one has agreed to take the reins of the organization-in-formation.
Solender, who became executive vice president of New York's federation in 1986, helped oversee the merger 13 years ago of that city's UJA and federation. Today, the New York UJA-Federation is one of the country's largest private philanthropies, raising some $250 million annually.
Solender's career includes terms as executive vice president of The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore and the coordinator for Muslim and Middle Eastern affairs for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
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